


he cared

by despainx



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: (can be interpreted romantically or platonically), Angst, Canon Divergence, Character Growth, F/M, Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:01:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24805867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/despainx/pseuds/despainx
Summary: “‘Maybe she doesn’t hate me anymore,’ he thought.‘Maybe I don’t dislike him as much as I thought I did,’ she thought.”orSam and Mike have never gotten along, despite the latter’s effort to, but when they are thrown in a dangerous situation together and have to depend on each other, she is able to see him in a whole new light.
Relationships: Sam Giddings/Mike Munroe
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	he cared

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys, wow it has been a while haha. tbh, i have completely lost my confidence in writing. but, this is my first time posting a work that isn’t clouis, and isn’t fluff, and oh well i’m nervous since this is very out of my comfort zone. so i want to make some things clear before you read.  
> •the main (slightly modified) canon events of the game are in italics, and the “flashbacks” are in the regular font. you may ask why i didn’t do the opposite and i don’t really know why, i just think it fits better like this.  
> •i based the story on mostly canon events with some divergence, but, since we don’t know what happened between the prologue and the game, it kinda left me to my imagination.  
> •this is my take on the characters, i really tried to keep them in character, so i’m sorry if i failed at that.  
> •as this is a smike fanfic, it’s very, well, smike centric. the other characters are featured briefly but this fic is focused on sam and mike’s own feelings regarding each other and themselves.  
> •i also tried to make their emotions regarding each other based on the relationship bar level.  
> •this may be kinda dramatic??? sorry this is my first time writing angst lol  
> •i mentioned this in the tags but this can be interpreted as both a romantic or platonic relationship. i personally ship them romantically but if you don’t i think you can still enjoy it. 
> 
> anyways i spoke too much, i just hope you enjoy it cause i’ve been editing this ruthlessly for months, and english is not my first language so please don’t be too harsh on me lol bye :))

  
Sam has never liked Mike. 

She has never considered him her friend. More like an acquaintance. Since the start, when they first met in high school, freshman year. She disliked how he craved to be the center of attention, how he always had some intelligent commentary to boast about and how self aware he was about his own appearance. 

She thought of all the bad adjectives when she stared at his face, his shit eating grin, lustful dark eyes and well sculpted cheekbones. Any insult you could’ve possibly think of Sam would’ve muttered under her breath when seeing him at least once. 

She never understood why Hannah, or any other girl she knew, was so madly in love with Mike. Sure, she had to admit he was handsome, but were there any redeeming qualities about him? She couldn’t think of a single one. 

But now, standing besides him inside a dark, freezing lodge, full of supernatural cannibalistic creatures ready to feast on their organs at any given moment, she sure as hell could think of lots of redeeming qualities.

  
.

_ “Sam? Sam, wake up.” Her eyes adjusted to the blurry surroundings, seeing a familiar face behind some grates near the ground, placed on the filthy tile wall. Was that who she thought it was? She doubted, because instead of the usual negative feeling she got when she saw him, she felt... different. _

_ “Mike? Mike is that you?” Sam asked. For the first time in a while, she didn’t curse him inside her mind. A sense of relief filled her chest. She sighed happily, it felt so good to see someone else, to see that she wasn’t alone on that mess.  _

_“Come over here.” He gestured, and she noticed his missing fingers. Her heart pounded with concern, but she decided it was a bad time to ask. Sam used all her strength to move the chair to the other side of the eerie room. After struggling to do so, he set her free with his machete, still intact due to his decision of cutting off his fingers instead of opening the damn bear trap. It may have been a reckless action, but at least he still had a weapon_.

_ Sam got to her knees to reach the grates. “Oh Mike, thank God you found me.” _

_ “It’s okay, you’re okay.”  _

_ He cared. _

_ “Your fingers, Mike!”  _

_ She cared too, even if it didn’t seem like it. _

_ “Yeah, and I’m the lucky one.”  _

_ “Jesus, what happened?”  _

_ “There’s a fucking maniac up here on the mountain! He is... he is trying to kill us all...”  _

_ “Listen, this guy who you’re talking about, he attacked me. He showed me these videos too, and one of them was Josh being killed, just being ripped apart by this huge fucking sawblade.” Sam said, trying not to let the bile rise up to her throat in both fury and nausea as she recalled the video. She obviously felt mournful about Josh’s death, but at that moment all she could feel was disgust. She grimaced at the memory of his torso being torn open and his guts and blood oozing out of his body, it made her stomach flip. Sam hoped she wouldn’t be next, and, while seeing Mike’s anguished reaction, she hoped he wouldn’t be the next either. _

.

Mike knew Sam didn’t like him. 

He had tried to make her change her mind at some point. Being nice to her made her scowl at him, probably due to the fact that differentiating being nice to being flirty was difficult for him. 

And then, after Hannah and Beth’s disappearance, that was when things took a turn for the worse. She could barely look at his face without crying. But it wasn’t just crying, she would always furrow her eyebrows in an specific way, and he felt like he was being ridiculed through the intense disapproval on her emerald eyes, but then started sobbing. 

Mike didn’t blame her for being mad. He blamed himself. Every day. Every single day of his miserable life. He couldn’t get Hannah’s shy smile right before she found out it was just a moronic prank out of his head. Suddenly his life turned upside down. He dumped Emily. He didn’t regret it but he also didn’t get why he did it. Her swearing and tearful eyes still lingered on the back of his head once in a while. He assumed he did it just for the thrill of it. Same motivation of dating Jessica. Mike  cared  about her, but deep down he knew his feelings for her consisted of pure lust, whereas she had confessed that she loved him. He lied, and said it back. Leading her on was selfish, and he was aware of it, but she was able to give him a rush of emotions he didn’t feel for quite some time, the only thing keeping him from feeling completely numb.

Soon, Jessica couldn’t provide that rush anymore. So he started to cheat on her with Emily, who was already dating Matt. Did he feel bad afterwards? Yes, always. But, did he want to stop? No, not really. 

He was hurting not only Jessica, but also Emily and Matt. 

“You’re a dick, Mike.” He whispered in front of the silver bordered mirror, a weird urge to grab all of Emily’s French perfumes from the top shelf and smashing them on the ground grew the more he stared at the clear glass shelf.

He was talking to himself in his ex-girlfriend’s suite bathroom while craving to break perfume bottles. Was he going insane? 

The bitter look on his own eyes staring back at him from the mirror reminded him of a certain blonde. “That’s why, that’s why Sam fucking hates you.” 

And thinking of Sam made him think of  them.

“That’s why Hannah and Beth are gone.”

.

_ “Em, what is that? What is that?” Ashley pointed at Emily’s shoulder. _

_ “It, it bit me.” Emily touched her own wound gloomily. _

_ “It bit you? What bit you?!” Ashley’s usually calm voice exclaimed in rage, craving for the truth. _

_ “The... the wendigo.”  _

_ Mike stared at Ashley, and Sam, taking in their reactions. Ashley gasped, eyes widening in fear. Sam’s lips were set on a frown.  _

_ “It doesn’t hurt anymore, really.” _

_ “Fuck...” _

_ “I know what you’re thinking and I’m fine!” Emily stepped forwards, making Mike instinctively take one step back.  _

_ “Are you?”  _

_ “Yes!”  _

_ Mike argued with Emily, trying to convince her to leave the basement. Ashley stood by him, screaming at her. Chris didn’t have much involvement, sitting by himself due to his sprained ankle, but seemed to also take Mike’s side. Sam was the only one backing up Emily. Of course. Of course she’d be the one to be against him.  _

_ Sam stayed mild, trying to promote peace until Mike reached for the gun. Now she knew that she had to intervene. Mike pointed the gun at Emily with trembling hands, as Sam grabbed his arm, not in a violent way, instead, with a loose grip to try to calm him and make him think it through. “Wow wow, Mike, calm down.” They never were close, but Sam knew he was an impulsive person. And on that situation it was a negative trait. _

_ Mike ignored her request. As much as he didn’t want to murder his ex, he was willing to do it to protect the group. Make sure none of them would turn into those monsters or arguably worse, be killed by one. He felt the need to protect Ashley, Chris... and Sam.  _

_ He cared, more than she realized. _

_ Mike shoved her away, just as carefully as the way she had grabbed his arm a few seconds before. _

_ “You’re gonna shoot me? Mike, me?” Emily stutters, her life flashing before her eyes as her ex lover held the weapon in front of her face.  _

_ Instead of all the good memories they had together, the one where Emily cried black tears of mascara after their breakup was the one predominant on his mind. It sent him on an strange dejavu feeling. Her pleading and teary eyes. “This is the safe room Em, and it’s not safe as long as you’re in it! Not for us!”  _

_ “No! No don’t do it!” Emily begged, turning her head away and digging her face into her hands, as if it was going to help her somehow.  _

_ “I’m really sorry.” He cried out. Ready to pull the trigger, Sam’s words were being repeated over and over inside his head like a mantra. ‘Maybe it’s just a bite.’ ‘Is that how it works?’ Doubtful thoughts, just like his. His fingers were sweaty around the trigger, tears filling up his eyes. _

_ He couldn’t do it. _

_ He couldn’t live with the guilt of causing someone else’s death. Not again. Not Jessica again. Not Hannah and Beth again. _

_ “Fuck I can’t do it!” He threw his arms in the air momentarily, then rubbed his temples with a hand, the other still gripping the gun.  _

_ “You did the right thing.” Sam consoled him, staring at him with empathy. _

_ He wanted to thank her for being the one putting sense onto his head, but couldn’t find the right words. She wanted to say she understood why he had acted that way, and appreciated his bravery regardless, but also couldn’t bring herself to do it. At that moment, looking at each other’s eyes felt different. Something had changed. _

_ ‘Maybe she doesn’t hate me anymore,’ he thought. _

_ ‘Maybe I don’t dislike him as much as I thought I did,’ she thought. _

_. _

But in reality, that wasn’t the first time she felt that way. 

Six months. Six months after the twins’s disappearance. 

The worst months of both Sam and Mike’s lives. 

Six months of living by being fed off of guilt, numbness, and loneliness. The friend group was torn apart by the tragedy, each dealing with grief in their own way.

The only positive thing about that time was that Sam started getting closer to Josh. Both poor grieving souls, they understood each other on a deeper level that no one else could. 

They always hung out at her place. The small apartment that gave off a homey feel, with all Sam’s plants and scented candles. Of course it wasn’t as big and luxurious as his mansion, but it wasn’t like he minded. He just enjoyed spending time with her and distracting himself from the constant guilt of not having done anything to save his sisters.

Meanwhile, Mike used Jessica to distract himself from the guilt of having caused everything. But one day, pushing that guilt away wasn’t enough for him. He had to confront it.

A knock in the door interrupted Sam’s peaceful evening. She placed her tea cup on the side table next to the sofa she was sitting on and trotted over to the front door, opening it without hesitation, maybe it was Josh, he usually came over on Saturdays.

Mike was the last person she expected to see on her door, running a hand through his dark locks awkwardly. “Hey, Sam. Can we- can we talk?” He gestured to go inside. 

“We can talk right here.” She kept her tone cold.

He frowned at her attitude, but it wasn’t like he was expecting her to be nicer anyway. He had thought about a million ways to do do this, blaming it on Jessica since she had the idea, guilt tripping Sam onto feeling bad for him, claiming that it wasn’t his fault that Hannah decided to run out in the woods, but it all took the blame away from himself. It would be superficial. And that wasn’t like he was feeling. 

He decided to be genuine. 

“Sam, I don’t know where to start. I just wanted to let you know that, I feel guilty about Hannah and Beth every single day. I deeply regret being the ‘bait’ of that stupid prank. Looking back now I don’t even get the point of it. What was so funny about humiliating Hannah like that? It was a shitty joke that took two lives from us. Hannah- she was the light of the group. She cheered everyone up with her silly ways and she had the most contagious laughter ever. Just her laugh made me laugh. She just knew, how to make everyone happy, always. No one felt blue when they were with her. Beth was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. I loved her sense of humor, her sarcasm, her different approach to things. I also loved how energetic she was, she was never tired, and always wanted to keep the party going. They brought so many amazing things to the group that I only realize now that they’re gone. They kept the group together. See how much everyone is distant now? We- I took them for granted. Not only I regret participating in that prank but also I regret not spending more time with them, not being nicer to Hannah, not doing the yoga classes with Beth, not complimenting Hannah’s new tattoo or Beth’s fresh haircut,” He closed his eyes. He didn’t want to cry, he didn’t want to make it look like a pity party. “I know that you hate me and all, and this probably won’t change anything but I wanted to apologize to you. I took your best friend away from you and I’ll- never ever forgive myself for it, and I don’t expect you to do it either but I just wanted to let you know that I am fucking sorry, and if I could take it back, I would. Hell, even if I was the one disappearing instead of them, I’d exchange places with them, without thinking twice. I also want to apologize to Josh but I just felt like talking to you first, I don’t know why, but I do know that you and Hannah had this amazing bond and neither of you deserved to get it destroyed by me, and Beth was your friend too, not as close as Hannah but I know that she was also important to you. I don’t know I just... really wanted to talk to you about this and I needed to get this off my chest.” 

Sam’s eyes were blank, just like her whole expression. She just stared at the ground showing no apparent emotion, and that made him start to doubt his decision. Each second in silence made his heart beat a little faster.

“You know what, forget it. Apologizing won’t bring them back, this was a dumb idea.” Mike said, frustrated. He turned around to leave when Sam stopped him. 

“Mike... wait,” He turned back to face her, now she looked melancholic, her teary eyes and shaky smile leaving him in a sense of confusion. “Hate, hate is a strong word. I don’t hate you. And it wasn’t all your fault-“ Mike’s head cocked to the side, his expression softened as Sam was struggling with a response. “...I appreciate it. Your apology, I mean. I’m not saying I forgive you, neither I want to see your face ever again but, I’m thankful for your apology, and that you...felt like this mattered.”

“Of course this matters. I care  about you, Sam. Even if the feeling isn’t mutual, I do, and I didn’t want to pretend like I wasn’t one of the main causes of you hurting,” Sam nodded, tears threatening to escape from her eyes at any moment. He was right, he was one of the main causes of her grief, but watching him open up to her with so much honesty made her not want to blame him, to try to stop pushing away her guilt onto him, just for an instant. “anyways I just felt like being honest with you. Thanks for... listening.”

He stood there for an awkward second, trying to figure out if he should hug her or shake her hand, but decided to do neither. He just went with a farewell nod. Mike would have to apologize to Josh on another occasion, but, for now, he felt lighter.   
  


.

_ ‘I need to find Mike. I need to find Mike. I need to find Mike.’ _

_ The phrase repeated over and over inside her head like a broken record. _

_ She didn’t get it. Why the sudden urge to find Mike. But she was worried about him. Alone in the sanatorium with all of those...things?No way she would let that happen.  _

_ She breathed in and out, trying to calm herself down to not hurry Emily and Chris up for the thousandth time. Ashley was nowhere in sight, and as much as that worried her, she wouldn’t let it stop her from finding him.  _

_ Emily groaned seeing the gigantic rocks forming a wall, blocking the rest of the way. “Oh shit, shit, it’s a dead end.”  _

_ “No, I think I can do it, it’s like, a rock wall,” Emily and Chris couldn’t do anything to stop her from climbing, they both just stood there, idiotically watching her. “I’m gonna keep going.”  _

_ “Are you serious?”  _

_ “Uh... get back to the lodge.”  _

_ “Shouldn’t we stick together?” She ignored her, still climbing. “Sam?!”  _

_ “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I have to get Mike. With you or without you.” Sam didn’t expect that to come out of her mouth, and after seeing Emily’s baffled expression, neither did she.  _

_ “Just, make it back okay?”  _

_ She just nodded and continued to climb, grabbing each rock with ease and without thinking much. Having an odd hobby finally paid off. Sam congratulated herself, the triumph feeling soon gone after realizing what she had to do.  _

_Walking around the mines was terrifying. The random wendigo screeches, the almost pitch black surroundings, and only having a shovel to defend herself, her gut feeling told her she was a goner. She followed her instincts, not sure where to go, until a door opened frantically. Mike was the one who opened it, a wendigo lit on fire jumped on top of him, trying to_ _take a chunk out of him. “Godamn it! Stay out there!” He warned._

_A rush of adrenaline ran through her veins. “Hey fatty, over here!” She shouted to get the wendigo’s attention, and as soon as the disgusting crature looked at her, she gave it a good hit with the shovel, disorienting it, and then she used it again to rip it’s head off, it’s_ _flaming body falling limp to the ground._

_ “Woah, are you alright?” _

_ “Uhh... define alright.” _

_ “Alive, for a start.”  _

_“Yeah, yeah alive’s good.” She said,_ _breathless._

_ “Let’s find a way to where this fucker lives.” _

_ The walk down to where she had came from was mostly quiet, of course the occasional horrifying wendigo screech bothering them. Until Sam decided to speak.  _

_ “It has been one hell of a night.”  _

_ “Yeah,” He sighed tiredly. “thanks, for saving me though. I owe you one.”  _

_ “Maybe you do,” Sam couldn’t help but offer him a hopeless smile. That night was being so strange. The “psycho”, and then the “ghosts”, the weird old man with the flamethrower, and the wendigos. But one of the strangest things was how Sam and Mike were actually...bonding. They felt close. Like they had been friends for a while. Josh was right in a way, traumatic events could unite people like that. Her bottom lip trembled, trying to tell him something but unsure of where she would be going with her words. “hey, Mike?” _

_ He stared at her. “Hm?” _

_ “I forgive you,” She thought that initially he wouldn’t understand what she was referring to, but his widened brown eyes reflected that he understood exactly what she was talking about. “this night has been down right awful but it made me realize something. You’re not who I thought you were. You’re a good person. You’re brave, altruistic and protecting. And you care about people, you really do. So I’m sorry for treating you like shit for the longest time without actually knowing you.”  _

_ The confession plus apology made him stop right on his tracks. His glossy eyes traced her comforting lips resting in a smile, a genuine one. “You’re the first. To forgive me, I mean. You forgave me before I even forgave myself, and I doubt that will ever happen. But you’re also the first to see me...as that. Everyone just sees me as the player, class president Michael Munroe, the always “manly” dude, brains and brawn. That’s what everyone sees me as, and what everyone wants me to be,” Mike admitted, and the weight that was released from his chest was the best thing he had felt in a while. And to know that she didn’t see him as the shallow personality he hid behind for validation and instead as someone with actual feelings and good natured motivations, made him feel even better, even if took a long time. “but you don’t. I’m glad that you see me as more than that, even though I deserve to be seen as an asshole after everything I’ve done.”_

_ “You are more than that Mike. You’re way more than just ‘an asshole’,” he simpered, and she rolled her eyes. “I mean it, Mike.” _

_ He avoided her gaze. “Thanks, it means a lot,” After a heavy breath, he continued. “enough with the sappy shit, let’s try to think about whatever the hell we’re doing... God this just doesn’t make any sense, there’s weird fucking monsters trying to kill us, how bizarre is that?” _

_ “It’s hard to believe that, that thing used to be a person...” _

.

_ “Don’t move,” Mike whispered in a chilling tone, the wendigos watching their every move, shaking their heads and crawling rapidly around the lodge. “don’t fucking move a muscle.”  _

_ Sam couldn’t resist the temptation to look up where the wendigo was resting, so she did only with her eyes, keeping her head in place. That was when she saw it. The black butterfly tatoo contrasting with the wendigo’s pale gray skin.  _

_ That was the last straw for her. _

_The diary, her suspicion was true, as much as Mike wanted to deny it. It was her. Her best friend was turned into a ruthless predator, a monster. Her body started to shake uncontrollably, her_ _knees became jello, making her lose her balance._

_ She moved.  _

_ Mike watched in horror as the wendigo jumped off from it’s place and was ready to launch at her right there. Sam’s body froze in place, death was knocking on her door, that was it. _

_ Sam wouldn’t die like this. Not on his watch.  _

_ In a split second impulse, he ran next to her, in an attempt to protect her. The wendigo dug it’s sharp nails onto his neck. It hurt, shit it hurt. It didn’t draw too much blood, but it felt like thousands of needles were drilling his skin. He released a horrifying scream as he was brutally thrown across the room. “Mike!” Sam shouted.  _

_ ‘He is okay, I’m sure he is okay, he is okay, fuck!’ She thought, her heart was pounding inside her chest, despite the freezing cold, she was sweating, sweating in pure terror. Worrying about her own life and his.  _

_ Mike sat up on the ground, moaning in pain. He started to scan his surroundings, desperate for a way of getting out of that death trap. The gas leak caused by the wendigos fighting, the lightbulb on the wall, and the light switch near the exit, it all formed the perfect plan inside his head. He took a look at Sam, and was surprised to see that she had caught up with the plan just by his staring around, as she nodded.  _

_Getting up from the ground carefully, he began to walk towards the lightbulb. Arriving there was easier than he had expected. He used his bare hand to break the lightbulb, he was sure that it was going to hurt, but not as bad as his whole body was aching just by standing up. At least one of his bones was broken from the collision he had with the floor, it was a certainty. The glass shattered into tiny pieces on his hand, it wasn’t that painful, just stung slightly due to the fresh cuts. The relief didn’t last long, as the wendigo was quick to notice him. But again, it didn’t kill him, just grabbed him by the face, and scratched his stomach twice, ripping his skin. Then it let his body fall to the ground. He wasn’t sure what was worse, being killed or being in the state that he was._

_Sam watched what unfolded right before her eyes and this time she couldn’t just be the bystander. As the wendigos were once again distracted fighting each other, she ran to Mike on her tip toes, dropping to her knees. He was laying down, on the floor, not looking like himself anymore. His hair that he used to have the effort to_ _gelevery single day looked messy and dirty, the dark strands falling on his forehead like they weren’t supposed to be there, dried blood, dirt and bruises covered his face that was drained of color, him narrowing his bag filled eyes and scrunching up his nose in agony. Unrecognizable._

_ “Mike! Mike c’mon we gotta move.” She whisper shouted, trying to get him to stand up, but he just mumbled curses, stuck to the ground.  _

_ “Sam, I can’t.” That was when she noticed his stomach, torn open, she could see his guts, blood oozing out of him. Did it scratch him that bad?! She shook her head in denial, her body started to shake with soft sobs, she just couldn’t leave him there to die. _

_ “Why, why did you do that?!” Sam sobbed in disbelief, not sure if her tears were because of sadness or rage. It was fucking stupid. Risking his life like that. “You shouldn’t have done that...”  _

_“I owed you one,” He chuckled weakly among the pain. Just the thought of that being his last -genuine- smile she would ever see pained her. Her brain told her to leave, to get the hell out before she met the same fate, but her heart disagreed. She didn’t want to leave him there, not after all they had gone through that night. “you gotta go, Sam. Before one of those fuckers notices you.”_

_“Mike I-“ A billion of thoughts crossed her head, some thinking of a plan, others trying to formulate actual sentences. She was overwhelmed with emotions. First_ Josh was fucking gone, actually gone. _She was still furious at him, for terrorizing her, traumatizing her and then just laughing it off, but he still had a special place in her heart for the previous bond they had made. Now Mike? Mike’s-near-death felt different. The main thought that kept popping up was his apology, when he mentioned how he took Hannah and Beth for granted and only realized their unique qualities and little quirks they had once they were gone. She was starting to understand what he meant, because as she saw his life slowly leave his body, she realized how much she overlooked him._

_ They’ve never had enough time. _

_ They didn’t have a bond from the past to remember.  _

_ “Please...” She gripped his hand, and cringed feeling the warm substance on his missing fingers, her tears intensifying once she looked down to see it was blood.  _

_ Mike turned his head to the side, seeing the wendigo crawling in their direction. “Sam run! Now!” _

_As much as she didn’t want to leave him, his heroic action couldn’t be in vain_. 

_ She had to make it. For him. _

_ Ignoring her ceaseless tears, the cold that could possibly cause her hypothermia, and the pain from all her injuries and muscular cramps, she got up from the floor and ran as fast as she could. She heard Mike screaming in the background, to get the wendigo’s attention.  _

_ She hoped Emily and Chris were already out.  _

_ Her finger did the trick, as the whole lodge lit up on fire, exploding instantaneously. She was thrown off the lodge onto the snow.  _

_ Laying down there for just a few seconds, feeling like eternity, the scene replayed on her head. Her whole body stopped aching and just felt...numb. Her initial thought was that she was dead, but then her head started pulsating painfully, her skin tingled because of the snow below her, and the hopeful sound of helicopters hovering over her filled her ears.  _

_ For an instant she expected he was going to be there by her side, helping her get up and asking if she was alright.  _

_ Getting up without any help, she tried to not let the raging flames coming from the lodge distract her from the helicopter coming down to rescue her. Not her, them, she realized as Chris and Emily got up from the ground, disorientated.  _

_ She had stopped crying but her eyes were swollen. She hated it. She hated that she had to start liking him just for him to die hours later.  _

_  
He sacrificed himself for her. _

_ ‘He cared.’ she thought, ‘he really did.’ _


End file.
